October’s endangered animal awareness challenge…

The 2021 Aurifil Color Builders are a capsule of 12 mini-collections dedicated to an incredibly worthy cause that falls in line with Aurifil’s goal to increase sustainability and positive environmental impact — Endangered Species. Each collection contains three large spools of their supple and strong 40wt thread — a warm, a medium, and a dark.

For the October challenge, Aurifil asked the Island Batik Ambassadors to create a piece inspired by the endangered animal featured on their assigned Color Builder box.

I received the Sumatran Elephant…

The Sumatran elephant is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and are one of the smallest of the Asian elephants, and known for their bright skin. Sadly there are are only between 2400 and 2800 Sumatran elephants left in the world, which puts them on the critically endangered list.

There has been a huge decline recently, largely due to habitat loss and illegal killing of the elephants for their ivory.

WWF Indonesia aims to protect the sustainability of the Sumatran elephants through collaborations with the government and other organizations. They have established elephant patrols, that serves to prevent hunting and dismantling of traps that can endanger the elephants.

Auriful thread have drawn their color inspiration from 12 magnificent animals, currently in dire need of attention, advocacy, and compassion. They are dedicated to highlighting their stories, helping to educate on their struggles, and working to create valuable change via awareness and fundraising. To help achieve these goals, Aurifil are collaborating with Earth League International and are looking forward to a strong and effective partnership, to read more about their work, head to

https://www.aurifil.com/2021-color-builders

I’ve created a wall hanging, using some gorgeous Island Batik fabrics, and the 3 Aurifil threads from my pack

I love the effect of the Island Batik blue fabrics

The light thread added a lovely shimmer to my project

Using the other two thread colours, I added some thread painting details to add depth and shading

Be sure to check out all the other Ambassadors projects, by heading over to the Island Batik Page

This wall hanging was quilted with Hobbs cotton batting and I added some hanging hoops to complete my project

I’ve really enjoyed reading about these elephants along with all the other Ambassadors projects, I hope you have too.

Michelle x

Island batik August blog hop…

What do you get if you mix a gorgeous new collection of Island Batik ‘proud peacock’ with some Auriful thread, a Deb Tucker Studio 180 Tucker Trimmer ruler and a sewing machine?

Need a clue?

Still need more clues? This super handy ruler is great for your HST projects…

Yes you guess it… a super adorable quilt

This quilt is made up of over 725 hand cut pieces, and uses every fabric from the Proud Peacock collection (plus a few duplicates), sewn together using Auriful Thread.

After putting my quilt top design together, I had 5 blocks left over… the perfect amount to make a gorgeous table runner

Head over to the Island batik page to see all the amazing new fabric collections, along with all the very talented Island Batik ambassadors who have created some stunning quilts this month (and every month).

Proud Peacock collection has been designed by Kathy Engle for Island Batik and is in shops from September 2021

Fancy being in with a chance of winning the Island Batik ‘Sticks and Stones fabric collection shown below????

Enter here

Best of luck

Michelle x

Reversible ‘Poppy’ Bag…

Designed by Debbie Shore  from her Half Yard Home book.

Pieced by Michelle Roberts at creativeblonde

http://www.creativeblonde.co.uk

Grab a copy of Debbie Shore’s book to make your very own reversible bag. Below are my photos to show you how I used the poppy and denim fabric from Craftcotton to create my version of the bag.

Materials

   Two 20” x 10” pieces from the denim fabric

Two 20” x 10” pieces from the poppies on white fabric

Two 13” x 3” pieces from the denim fabric

Two 13” x 3” pieces from the poppies on white fabric

Two 20” x 3” strips from the poppies on black fabric

Aurifil threads

Haberdashery items

• Quilter’s ruler,
• Rotary cutter/scissors
• Iron
• Cutting mat
• Basic sewing supplies

 

Lets get sewing…

(All seam allowance is ¼”)

Using your rotary cutter and ruler, create the handles

• 

  qrf

• 

• 

Take your time when creating the pleats, to make sure they are all in the same place on each fabric bag piece.

• 

• 

Shape the bottom corners of your bag pieces.

Pin the handles in place

The two pieces are then sewn together. Remember to leave a gap for turning

Turn right side out and press

• 

• 

What will you use yours for?

• 

• 

To see more of my tutorials, you can follow my blog www.creativeblonde.co.uk and/or Instagram page www.instagram.co.uk/michelle_creativeblonde and www.facebook.com/creativeblonde66

Stockist for Fabric

www.visagetextiles.com

www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Never too early challenge…

No one typically thinks of winter in the summertime but it’s the best time of all to get an early start on Christmas and holiday projects…

I love a Christmas table, filled with sparkle, so I decided to make some Christmas bauble placemats, using some gorgeous Christmas fabrics including Holly berries and Snowflake

Cute Christmas baubles you can personalize

These placemats are a perfect size for you dinner plate, and can be personalised for that extra special touch at Christmas.

I’ve used some vibrant Auriful thread, the green is 1114 and the purple is 2545 to add the wording details

Each place-mat has Vliseline Thermolam wadding inside, to give it some stability and form, with hand sewn binding, using Aurifil thread and Clover sharps black gold needles.

All finished off with a sparkly silver ribbon and bow, all I need now is the crackers and the Yorkshire puddings

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?

Michelle x

Christmas in July…

Last month I completed my first Christmas project of the year, its a Dresden table runner for the Craft cotton Blog and I wanted to share my free pattern with you guys here aswell.

Christmas fabric from Craftcotton

I love the Dresden blocks, and their versatility.

• 

• 

• 

This is a fabulous size table runner, measuring 21″ x 66″

The Dresden blocks are sewn onto a white background, with hand sewn red binding, to really make this table runner pop.

To download my free pattern, click the link below, be sure to follow me and leave a comment 🙂

craftcotton-christmas-table-runnerDownload

Looking for some special handmade gifts, check out my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/uk/shop/creativeblondegifts and Not On The High Street store www.notonthehighstreet.com/creativeblonde

Happy wednesday

Michelle x

spreading love and joy with my summer vibes lap quilt…

Welcome to June’s Island batik challenge, this month is all about using our Accuquilt ultimate cutting machine, and combining the 8” or 12” finished BOB dies, with the GO! Qube 8″ Mix & Match Block and create a whole new pattern by combining the two.

I decided to combine the Hattie Choice block with the Go! zero pattern block to make a 31″ square lap quilt. I’ve used some super bright orange and yellows from my stash buster collection, along with some gorgeous Marbles from the basics range and Almond from the neutrals collection

I wanted this lap quilt to give off some summer vibes

I used Hobbs cotton batting inside, along with a super bright yellow Auriful thread to quilt this blanket.

I added a really bright orange binding, to make this summer vibe quilt pop

I couldn’t resist taking this quilt on a little photo shoot around my garden in the beautiful sunshine…

Head over to Island Batik Facebook page to see all the other amazing quilts that have been designed by the other Ambassadors

Enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and spread some love and joy today

Michelle x

Father’s Day quilt pattern…

Happy Monday! To celebrate the start of a new week, I’m sharing my free fathers day quilt pattern that I wrote for Craftcotton, using the super sweet liquorice allsorts fabric from Craftcotton

I couldn’t resist using this fabric, as my dad is huge fan of liquorice allsorts, and this quote is something we say over and over again… “give it to dad, he will be able to fix it”, aren’t dads just the best 🙂

As I’ve got older and became a mum, this saying is now “lets see if granddad can fix it!” 🙂

Happy Father’s Day

Download my Quilt Pattern here…

craftcotton-fathers-day-quiltDownload

Happy Sewing

Michelle x

its all up to you…

The months Island Batik Challenge, was left down to us as ambassadors to decide what to make. Head over to the Island Batik page to see all the amazing creations from this month

www.facebook.com/islandbatik

I’ve been busy over the last few months completing the first of three modules of a surface pattern design course, so I was keen to bring some of my designs to life…

I used Jewel Quest fabric collection, along with some bright green and purple threads from Aurifil to create my cushion covers

Jewel Quest fabric from Island Batik

I really love free motion quilting, its just like drawing but with your machine, and I get a real buzz from it, here are some close ups, each cover is quilted using Hobbs 80/20 cotton mix batting.

16″ x 16″ cushion covers

If you love these cushion covers, I have some exciting news… I’m currently taking orders, so please get in touch as I’d love to make something that fits your living room or bedroom decor. These cushions covers are made to order, which means they are available in all sizes and colours, prices start from just £20.

These two cushions are already looking stunning in their new home, and look brilliant on their new owners snuggle sofa

Thanks so much for stopping by to read my blog, happy Monday!

Michelle x

Pennant flag patterns

A beautiful addition to a nursery or bedroom, this makes a lovely gift to make and keep, or for friends and family to make and gift. Download my free pattern below to make your own pennant flag, or order my ‘pennant flag’ kit from my ‘Creative Blonde kits’ page, includes everything you need _{(threads not included).}

Big welcome, little one.

Using the adorable new nursery fabrics from Craftcotton, in lovely soft tones of peach/coral and greens, means it will work perfectly with almost all nursery colours.

All of me, loves all of you.

Pennant-flag-decor-all-of-me-loves-all-of-youDownload

Pennant-flag-decor-big-welcome-little-oneDownload

If you’re not a sewer/quilter, or just don’t have the time, but would love to order one of these for your child/grandchild, please get in touch using my ‘contact/order form’ page, or contact me via email.

Thanks for stopping by and supporting my small business. Happy Tuesday!

Do what makes your heart smile

Michelle xx

nursery kite…

A beautiful addition to a nursery, this makes a lovely gift to make and keep, or for friends and family to make and gift. Download my pattern below to make your own nursery kite, or order my ‘Nursery Kite’ kit from my ‘Creative Blonde kits’ page, includes everything you need _{(threads not included).}

Nursery kite decoration

Using the adorable new nursery fabrics from Craftcotton, in lovely soft tones of peach/coral and greens, means it will work perfectly with almost all nursery colours.

Super cute bows

If you’re not a sewer/quilter, or just don’t have the time, but would love to order one of these for your child/grandchild, please get in touch using my ‘contact/order form’ page, or contact me via email.

These nursery/bedroom kites, can be personalised with your child’s/grand-child’s name.

nursery-kite-patternDownload

Thanks for stopping by and supporting my small business. Happy Tuesday!

Do what makes your heart smile

Michelle xx